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Coastal Point • Laura Walter: From left, Norma Hall, Teresa Shockley, Gladys Aviles-Johnson and Ruth Thomas take a break from packing Patsy’s Purses for a photo. The purses get filled with toiletries, then delivered to homeless shelters and other safe homes.When her mother passed away from cancer on Sept. 11, 2016, Gladys Aviles-Johnson couldn’t bear to just ship her mother’s belongings to a thrift shop.

“I felt like we were throwing them out. I just prayed about it, ‘Lord, what can we do to make a difference?’” the Bridgeville resident said.

She was inspired to give her mother’s purse collection to women in need. Now Patsy’s Purses are filled with toiletries and other necessary items, then delivered to homeless shelters, rehab centers and other safe homes.

“You figure you have nothing, and then you come out and you get the staples that you need,” said Ruth Thomas of Georgetown, who helps prepare bags.

Reader says love is the answer for nation

Editor:

After reading the letter which I have retitled “I’m Still with You,” by John Dupont of Ocean View, published in the Oct. 13, 2017, edition of Coastal Point, I was forced to respond. I must, first and foremost, commend Mr. Dupont for how he was able to so eloquently pen “truth” to paper.

Army engineers often perform duties that, while important and often crucial to victory on the battlefield, are less well publicized and, therefore, do not receive the recognition they deserve. A Confederate engineer unit, however, received the abiding gratitude of the Army of Northern Virginia’s commanding general in July 1863.

Fenwick Island businesses are aiming to make Friday a big shopping night. The local businesses have followed in the footsteps of other towns in the region by starting the new Fenwick First Fridays events, continuing Nov. 3 and Dec. 1.

Coastal Point • Kerin Magill: Allen Harim broke ground on its new hatchery in Dagsboro on Wednesday, Oct. 25. Local dignitaries were on hand for the event.Allen Harim, a South Korea-based chicken producer with several facilities on Delmarva, broke ground on Wednesday, Oct. 25, on a $22 million hatchery in Dagsboro.

Gov. John Carney attended the ceremony, taking a moment to hold one of the chicks that had chirped from their basket on a nearby table while Carney joined Allen Harim officials, as well as local, state and county officials, in celebrating the beginning of the hatchery construction.

“This is a big deal. This is a really big deal,” Carney said. The governor emphasized the importance of “making sure we cultivate our poultry industry and our individual poultry farmers” in Delaware.

Rory DeWeese, Allen Harim senior director of live operations, said the 70,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility will “encompass” the current building. The hatchery will be capable of hatching 2.5 million eggs each week.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Christian Heneghan donated bone marrow to a 17-year-old girl with leukemia. He registered at a Ultimate Frisbee tournament, not even really thinking about it. Now he’s helped another person who really needed it.It may seem dismissive to call donating bone marrow to a stranger a random act of kindness. But that’s exactly how Christian Heneghan looks at it.

Heneghan, 38, took the initial “swab test” to determine his eligibility to be a donor at an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Poolesville, Md., about six years ago. The testing was part of an outreach effort by Be the Match, which is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program.

He looks back on that day, and what he describes as a “random thing” — he didn’t know he’d have the opportunity to enter the donor program that day, he said — he just wanted to play some Frisbee with some friends.

One year ago, that “random” act led to Heneghan’s admission to a Washington, D.C., hospital as a bone marrow donor. Earlier this month, it led to his receipt of a very special letter.

Coastal Point • Laura Walter: Constance James Collock was inspired by the work being done to bring Delaware Botanic Gardens at Peppers Creek to Sussex County, and painted what she imagines a very specific spot in the complex will look like.One day, sunlight will shine through the trees, gold and green. A gently sculpted path will turn toward the creek, twinkling gently in the distance.

At least, that’s what local artist Constance “Connie” James Kollock imagines in her new painting, a study of the future Delaware Botanic Gardens at Pepper Creek.

After learning about the public garden coming to Dagsboro, she curiously hoped to see the land for herself, before the 37-acre plot was fenced in against deer and humans. For the past few years, the botanic gardens team have been quietly clearing brush, digging paths and planting thousands of young plants (with many more to come) on a site that was mostly soybean field and forest.

Walking through the woods, “I thought, ‘Oh, golly — I know what this is gonna look like,’” she said, and Kollock was inspired to photograph and sketch the woodland pathways. She finished the task just as the gardens’ staff announced that the property would soon be gated, as the gardens-in-progress are closed to the general public until the gardens officially open around 2019.

Kollock started her painting this spring, transforming acrylic paint into the bright landscape she sees coming in the next few years.

“This is a beautiful spot. … I think it’ll be a unique place, with all the flowers and the old paths and being on the creek like it is,” said Kollock. “I think they’ll be successful. I hope they are.”

At home in Millsboro, her own studio looks out over the picturesque Indian River.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Preschoolers are movin’ and groovin’ at a music night at Transitioning Our Toddlers to School (TOTS) in Frankford.These preschoolers were ready to boogie. Live music filled the gym this month at Indian River School District’s Transitioning Our Toddlers to School (TOTS) program.

Armed with an acoustic guitar, Nancy Curry of Makin’ Music Delaware led the children in singing and dancing. She will give three TOTS nighttime shows, plus several classroom visits, this school year, made possible by a $2,500 grant from the Freeman Foundation.

TOTS serves kids ages 3 and 4 who have developmental disabilities or delays.

Kids sing throughout the day, such as the clean-up song. But on their music night, they used listening skills to dance and follow motions.

“This was something that I thought was just little bit different. … This was just pure entertainment,” said Loretta Ewell, TOTS coordinator.

Professional endorsements work because consumers make them work. Seldom, but sometimes, the company involves the athlete in product development. Billie Jean King and Chris Evert were involved in their Wilson autograph tennis rackets.

Endorsements are not to be taken lightly because of the financial risk, which can ruin companies.

Every autumn, Delaware schools take a “snapshot” of the student population. On Sept. 30, Indian River School District officially counted 10,619 students.

“If we keep the same growth pattern, we’re going to eclipse 11,000 in the next five years, probably more like 11,500 to 12,000 students,” Superintendent Mark Steele told the IRSD Board of Education in October.

Local residents and motorists should beware, and be aware, of princess zombies and Jedi dinosaurs this week. Halloween is the annual holiday when neighbors freely give treats to local trick-or-treaters. Kids can grab a costume, flashlight and bucket or pillowcase for the spookiest night of the year.

Despite the fact that the pumpkin crop at Magee Farms’ Selbyville location succumbed to a rainy growing season, the century-old family farm will kick off the weekend with a tribute to TV audiences’ favorite pumpkin patch, followed the next day with more autumn fun at its annual Fall Festival.

As part of an ongoing effort locally, state-wide and nationally, people are being encouraged to visit some of their local police departments this weekend to properly dispose of their unneeded or expired prescription medications.

This weekend, when some people buy new furniture, they’ll know that 100 percent of the cost helped hurricane victims across the U.S.

The Father’s House church in Frankford will host an auction fundraiser to help hurricane recovery efforts in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. They were battered by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, all within one month this summer.

At the request of Selbyville Police Department, the Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit this week began investigating a crash that occurred at the end of September, resulting in the death of a driver.

In 2012, the Ocean View Town Council hired Hendricks & Associates to conduct a compensation study to analyze the duties of town employees. The thought was to develop a salary grade and range structure so that the Town would not have retention issues.

The Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit and the Dewey Beach Police Department this week were investigating a motor vehicle crash on Coastal Highway (Route 1) in Dewey Beach that killed two Washington, D.C., men who had been standing next to the road on their bicycles. Police asked for the public’s help with information about the vehicle involved in the accident.

Sussex County Councilman Rob Arlett is pushing an ordinance related to right-to-work legislation for the county, and it could be put in front of council at its Oct. 31 meeting.

The ordinance would intend to “provide that no employee covered by the National Labor Relations Act be required to join or pay dues to a union, or refrain from joining a union, as a condition of employment.”

The last time I reported to you about the activities of the Sussex County Economic Development Action Committee, I pointed out four areas in which Sussex County must improve if we are to sustain Sussex County as a “place to be.” Those areas included training, salary improvements, affordable housing and job opportunities.

Reader takes issue with county

With the advent of the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, popularly known as C-SPAN, nearly 40 years ago, Americans have become familiar with the workings of both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Some of the most popular activities viewed on this television network are House and Senate hearings on a variety of subjects.

Coastal Point • File Photo : Wags, Witches &amp;amp; Warlocks brings costumed humans, tail-wagging pets, a parade and more to Bethany Beach for some Halloween festivities every year.Wags, Witches & Warlocks, the annual Bethany Beach Halloween festival and parade, will bring the fun for families and their fur-babies this weekend. The festival, hosted by the Leslie Kopp Group of Long & Foster Real Estate, will be held this year on Saturday, Oct. 28.

While the event brings families and pets to town for a day of fun, it is also an important fundraising and awareness event for Partners for Paws of Delaware.

The fun gets going at 10 a.m. with the parade and costume contest. A special feature in this year’s parade will be participation by the Indian River High School Marching Band — the first time the band has performed in the parade, according to Christi Arndt of the Leslie Kopp Group.

The partnership came about through band member Lindsay Phelan, who brought the idea to band director Nathan Mohler, Arndt said.

“Our committee was so pleased that he was immediately interested in working on a performance,” she said.